Qasem Soleimani

General Qasem Soleimani قاسم سلیمانی
Born	11 March 1957 Qanat-e Malek, Kerman Province, Imperial State of Iran
Died	3 January 2020 Baghdad, Iraq
Cause of death	U.S. drone strike
Nationality	Iranian

Qasem Soleimani was an anti-imperialist Iranian general who was assassinated by a U.S. airstrike in 2020.

He was a staunch opponent of ISIS, and his assassination is seen as both martyrdom for Iran as well as US support for ISIS.

Helping the Palestinian Resistance

The Quds Force had cultivated relations with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad since the 1990s under the leadership of Soleimani's predecessor, Brigadier-General Ahmad Vahidi, and the 1995 Kfar Darom bus attack which neutralized Zionist soldiers and illegal settlers in Gaza. Soleimani strengthened these relations during the Second Intifada, when he and Hezbollah chief of military operations Imad Mughniyeh oversaw the smuggling of weapons to the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad factions, according to Lebanese militant Anis al-Naqqash.

After the 2007 imposition of a blockade on the Gaza Strip by "Israel" and Egypt, Soleimani's Quds Force has been active in supporting the further construction of tunnels under Gaza and the smuggling of weapons through these tunnels to the armed wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In 2021 senior Hamas representative to Lebanon, Ahmad Abd al-Hadi said:

The idea of [digging] tunnels... Today there are 360 kilometers of tunnels in Gaza. There are more than 360 kilometers of tunnels underground. I won't go into details on this. Two people came up with the idea of digging these tunnels: The first is the martyred commander Imad Mughniyeh, and the second is Hajj Qasem Soleimani who went to Gaza more than once and contributed to the defense plan from the moment it was first drafted. I am not divulging any secret, by the way. The enemies know all this but what the enemies do not know is way more than what they do know.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command Secretary-General Talal Naji also said in a 2021 interview:

The Islamic Republic of Iran has made a great contribution and invested a lot of effort in developing the military capabilities of the Palestinian resistance through training, developing weapons, and teaching our comrades among the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank how to manufacture weapons and rockets. As you know, there are difficulties in transporting these weapons and rockets to occupied Palestine. Even in transporting weapons, Iran made an effort to support us in transporting weapons by way of sea, as you know. Let me tell you about what I heard from General Qasem Soleimani, may he rest in peace. He said: 'We sent ten ships full of weapons.' Most people probably do not know about these ships. Most people know about one ship, called Karine A Affair|Karine A, which was raided by the Zionist enemy in the Red Sea. By the way, the Karine A was sent to the martyr Yasser Arafat, to the brothers in the Fatah movement – not to Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the PFLP-GC, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine… No. It was sent to Fatah. Ten ships were sent to the various factions of the Palestinian resistance in Palestine. This was in the beginning, when we were transporting weapons. The martyr Jihad Jibril – the son of Abu Jihad, Ahmad Jibril – was assassinated by Zionist gangs in Beirut. His car was blown up on May 20th, 2002. They killed him because he was in charge of transporting weapons from Lebanon to Gaza. He sent three ships from Lebanon to the Gaza coast, far out at sea. The weapons were thrown from the ships in tightly-sealed barrels. We coordinated with the brothers in Hamas. The martyr Jihad Jibril asked them to send divers and small boats in order to retrieve the barrels from the sea and bring them to the coast, and we used to split the weapons, and even give most of the weapons to them, because of their [relative] size and their responsibility. He used to give them most of the weapons and we took some of them. This was in the beginning. Then, at a later stage, under the supervision of the martyr Qasem Soleimani, [it was decided] that our people who waged resistance in Gaza should be able to manufacture weapons, and even develop rockets. At first, it was very short-range rockets. They used to have a range of 2 kms. The weight of the payload was vey limited, and thus its impact was minor. If a rocket has a 2 km range, and its payload is small, then the impact is weak. General Qassem Soleimani supervised the development of these rockets, in cooperation with the brothers in Syria. Sometimes the training took place in the Islamic Republic of Iran, sometimes in Syria, and sometimes in Lebanon, with the brothers in Hezbollah who are waging jihad. As you know, we are an axis – the Axis of Resistance. Soleimani used to supervise these activities himself. He used to supervise these things himself, as you know. This has been disclosed by the beloved brother Hassan Nasrallah – how Nasrallah and Soleimani discussed the necessity to send quality weapons to the resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip. General Qassem Soleimani was the one who planned the delivery of the Kornet – the famous Russian missile that is used against tanks and heavy APCs. Kornet missiles were sent to the Gaza Strip and the Zionist enemy was surprised by this, when its tanks were destroyed. They have a tank that they are proud of, they consider it to be the pride of the Israeli arms industry – the Merkava. Merkava tanks were destroyed in 2009. This bore the hallmarks of General Qasem Soleimani, may he rest in peace.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has disclosed the fact that Soleimani was present at the Palestinian Joint Operations Room in Damascus, Syria, throughout January 2009, overseeing operations against the Zionist Army during the 2008-2009 Gaza War.

Helping the Iraqi Resistance

While Iran actively supported the U.S. effort on the ground in Afghanistan in the closing months of 2001, in his January 2002 State of the Union Address President George W. Bush singled out the country as part of an "axis of evil" along with Saddam Hussein's Republic of Iraq (Iran's longtime enemy) and North Korea. After the U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq in April 2003, the Quds Force under Soleimani supplied insurgents with weapons, most notably explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) or roadside bombs, used to devastating effect against coalition forces and Blackwater mercenaries, as in the 2004 Fallujah ambush and 2004 Good Friday ambush. The Quds Force also helped in the creation and arming of Shia militias such as the Mahdi Army, Kata'ib Hezbollah and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq.

On 11 January 2007, the United States raided the Iranian Liaison Office in Erbil, Iraq, based on false intelligence that IRGC Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Ali Jafari and Soleimani were there. Nine days later, on 20 January, Qais al-Khazali's Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq militia, with the help of Quds Force Brigadier General Abdolreza Shahlaei and Hezbollah operative Ali Musa Daqduq, Karbala provincial headquarters raid|infiltrated the U.S. Army's Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Headquarters and killed five American soldiers, in what has been called the most daring and sophisticated insurgent operation of the Iraq War. On the same day, 13 American soldiers died in a helicopter crash and seven others were killed by other insurgents throughout Iraq, making it the third worst day for U.S. troops during the entire war.

Helping the Lebanese Resistance

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has said that Soleimani was instrumental in upgrading Hezbollah's military capabilities since he became head of the Quds Force in 1998 and helping transform Hezbollah into a fighting force capable of not only resisting but also deterring "Israel".

On 12 July 2006, Hezbollah, under the operational command of Imad Mughniyeh and Khalid Bazzi, launched a cross-border raid into "Israel", destroying a tank, killing eight IDF soldiers and capturing two alive. "Israel" responded by invading Lebanon. Soleimani on that day was in Damascus, but went to Beirut under intense "Israeli" bombing and throughout the course of the war stayed in Dahieh alongside Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and military chief Imad Mughniyeh, forming a three-man command to supervise all of Hezbollah's operations during the war.

From the end of the 2006 war, Soleimani scrupulously worked on refurbishing Hezbollah’s missile force to make it a strike force that would deter "Israel" from attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Soleimani invested great resources in filling Hezbollah’s missile stocks. After 2006, Soleimani expended most of his efforts in converting a large part of the Hezbollah missiles into precision missiles. To that end, Soleimani built an operational, technological infrastructure in Syria from which he transferred missiles to Lebanon in convoys. When the missiles’ routes between Syria and Lebanon were uncovered, the Quds commander decided to build precision-targeting factories for Hezbollah in Lebanon. At first, the secret facilities were in the Beirut area, but when "Israel" discovered them, they were moved to the Baalbek region.

Helping the Yemeni Resistance

There are rumors that Soleimani and his predecessor Vahidi helped elements engaging in armed struggle against the Saudi monarchy, such as those who attacked American bases in Khobar (1996) and Riyadh (2003). Since 2014 the Quds Force helped arm the Yemeni resistance Ansar Allah movement.

Syrian Civil War

Template:See also Template:Rquote According to several sources, including Riad Hijab, a former Syrian premier who deserted in August 2012, Soleimani was one of the strongest supporters of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War. Soleimani was involved in planning and carrying out the Siege of Baba Amr during the Siege of Homs since 2011, according to the Syrian Minister of Defense, Ali Abdullah Ayyoub. In the later half of 2012, Soleimani assumed personal control of the Iranian intervention in the Syrian Civil War, when the Iranians became deeply concerned about the CIA's Operation Timber Sycamore that was arming al-Qaeda against Assad, and the negative consequences to the Islamic Republic if the Syrian government fell. He reportedly coordinated the war from a base in Damascus at which a Lebanese Hezbollah commander and an Iraqi Shia militia coordinator were mobilized, in addition to Syrian and Iranian officers. Under Soleimani, the command "coordinated attacks, trained militias, and set up an elaborate system to monitor rebel communications". According to a Middle Eastern security official, thousands of Quds Force and Iraqi Shia militiamen in Syria were "spread out across the entire country". The retaking of Qusayr in May 2013 from al-Qaeda was, according to John Maguire, a former CIA officer in Iraq, "orchestrated" by Soleimani.

Brigadier General Hossein Hamadani, the Basij's former deputy commander, helped to run irregular militias that Soleimani hoped would continue the fight if Assad fell. Soleimani helped establish the National Defence Forces (NDF) in 2013 which would formalize the coalition of pro-Assad groups.

Soleimani was much credited in Syria for the strategy that assisted President Bashar al-Assad in finally repulsing rebel forces and recapturing key cities and towns. He was involved in the training of government-allied militias and the coordination of decisive military offensives. The sighting of Iranian UAVs in Syria strongly suggested that his command, the Quds Force, was involved in the civil war. In a visit to the Lebanese capital Beirut on 29 January 2015, Soleimani laid wreaths at the graves of the slain Hezbollah members, including Jihad Mughniyah, which strengthened suspicions about a collaboration between Hezbollah and the Quds Force.

In 2015, Soleimani began gathering support from various sources to combat the newly resurgent Islamic State and al-Qaeda which had both successfully taken large swaths of territory from Assad's forces. He was reportedly the main architect of the joint intervention involving Russia as a new partner with Assad and Hezbollah. According to Reuters, at a meeting in Moscow in July, Soleimani unfurled a map of Syria to explain to his Russian hosts how a series of defeats for President Bashar al-Assad could be turned into victory—with Russia's help. Soleimani's visit to Moscow was the first step in planning for the Russian military intervention that has reshaped the Syrian war and forged a new Iran–Russia alliance in support of the Syrian (and Iraqi) governments. Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, also sent a senior envoy to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin. "Putin reportedly told [a senior Iranian envoy] 'Okay we will intervene. Send Qassem Soleimani.'" General Soleimani went to explain the map of the theatre and coordinate the strategic escalation of military forces in Syria.

Soleimani had a decisive impact on the theater of operations, which led to a strong advance in southern Aleppo with the government and allied forces re-capturing two military bases and dozens of towns and villages in a matter of weeks. There was also a series of major advances towards Kuweiris air-base to the north-east. By mid-November, the Syrian army and its allies had gained ground in southern areas of Aleppo Governorate, capturing numerous rebel strongholds. Soleimani was reported to have personally led the drive deep into the southern Aleppo countryside where many towns and villages fell into government hands. He reportedly commanded the Syrian Arab Army's 4th Mechanized Division, Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi), Kata'ib Hezbollah (Iraqi), Liwaa Abu Fadl Al-Abbas (Iraqi), and Firqa Fatayyemoun (Afghan/Iranian volunteers).

In early February 2016, backed by Russian and Syrian air force airstrikes, the 4th Mechanized Division—in close coordination with Hezbollah, the National Defense Forces (NDF), Kata'eb Hezbollah, and Harakat Al-Nujaba—launched an offensive in Aleppo Governorate's northern countryside, which eventually broke the three-year siege of Nubl and Al-Zahraa and cut off the rebels' main supply route from Turkey. According to a senior, non-Syrian security source close to Damascus, Iranian fighters played a crucial role in the conflict. "Qassem Soleimani is there in the same area", he said. In December 2016, new photos emerged of Soleimani at the Citadel of Aleppo, though the exact date of the photos is unknown.

In late March 2017, Soleimani was seen in the northern Hama Governorate countryside in Syria, reportedly aiding Major General Suheil al-Hassan to repel a [major rebel offensive.

War against ISIS in Iraq

Soleimani had a significant role in Iran's fight against ISIS in Iraq. He was described as the "linchpin" bringing together Kurdish and Shia forces to fight ISIS, overseeing joint operations conducted by the two groups.

In 2014, Soleimani was in the Iraqi city of Amirli, to work with Iraqi forces to push back ISIS militants. The Los Angeles Times reported that Amirli was the first town to successfully withstand an ISIS invasion, and was secured thanks to "an unusual partnership of Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers, Iranian-backed Shia militias and U.S. warplanes".

A senior Iraqi official told the BBC that when the city of Mosul fell, the rapid reaction of Iran, rather than American bombing, was what prevented a more widespread collapse. Soleimani also seems to have been instrumental in planning the operation to relieve Amirli in Saladin Governorate, where ISIS had laid siege to an important city. In fact, the Quds force operatives under Soleimani's command seem to have been deeply involved not only with the Iraqi army and Shia militias but also with the Kurdish forces in the Battle of Amirli, providing liaisons for intelligence-sharing along with arms, munitions and expertise.

In the operation to liberate Jurf Al Sakhar, he was reportedly "present on the battlefield". Some Shia militia commanders described Soleimani as "fearless", one pointing out that the Iranian general never wears a flak jacket even on the front lines.

In November 2014, Shia and Kurdish forces under Soleimani's command pushed ISIS out of the Iraqi villages of Jalawla and Saadia in the Diyala Governorate.

Soleimani played an integral role in the organization and planning of the crucial operation to retake the city of Tikrit in Iraq from ISIS. The city of Tikrit rests on the left bank of the Tigris river and is the largest and most important city between Baghdad and Mosul, giving it a high strategic value. The city fell to ISIS during 2014 when ISIS made immense gains in northern and central Iraq. After its capture, ISIS's massacre at Camp Speicher led to 1,600 to 1,700 deaths of Iraqi Army cadets and soldiers. After months of careful preparation and intelligence gathering an offensive to encircle and capture Tikrit was launched in early March 2015.

In 2016, photos published by a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) source showed Soleimani attending a meeting of PMF commanders in Iraq to discuss the Battle of Fallujah.

CIA chief Mike Pompeo said he sent Soleimani and other Iranian leaders a letter holding them responsible for any attacks on U.S. interests by forces under their control. According to Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, a senior aide for Iran's supreme leader, Soleimani ignored the letter when it was handed over to him during the Abu Kamal offensive against ISIS, saying "I will not take your letter nor read it and I have nothing to say to these people."